Cooking Class

Last Tuesday, Gonzaga offered a sign up for a one night class at a cooking school at 7pm to learn how to make authentic Italian dishes. With my love of food and of "attempting" to cook (ask UT about the zuchinni over-pepper disaster of 2011 for reference), I gladly paid the 22 Euro. Monzie and I headed over to "In Tavola" for our 1st Italian culinary experience! It was amazing. On the menu was Eggplant Caprese, Pesto Lasagna, and Tiramisu. Talk about a perfect meal. We started with the Tiramisu which was probably the easiest thing to make since no baking or real effort was required. We dipped lady fingers in a combination of espresso and brandy, and layered them in a little dish with marscapone cheese and sugar. We topped them with cocoa powder and they were good to go, extra emphasis on the GOOD! so yummy.
 
Next we started our lasagna. I was in charge of whisking the bechamel sauce, which consisted of butter, flour, milk and nutmeg. Thanks to many years of cooking with Aunt Angela and Noni, this part was such a breeze! He even complimented me on how I got the ingredients off the side of the bowl, little did he know of my talent. The pesto we whipped up and used a hand beater rather than a blender, which was something new. It smelled so good. It probably took every ounce of me not to put my fingers in all the things we were making for taste. A habit, Grandma knew all too well as I insisted on putting my fingers in all her birthday cakes; the habit still lives on today :) But not at this class, thank gosh, I found some self restraint. Then we hand made the fresh egg pasta. This part was a little tricker. Everyone got to try out the pasta machine. Monzie and I struggled for a second, trying to make this incredibly thin sheets for the lasagna. We eventually mastered it, and cut out the shapes. We layered the baking sheet with the fresh egg pasta, then eggplant, roasted peppers, and pesto in between. We topped it with cheese (because clearly this meal was low-calorie/low-fat enough to add more cheese) and put it in the oven to bake.

Next, for our appetizer, and the final thing we made, we assembled grilled egg plant, fresh tomatoes and buffalo mozzarella as our eggplant caprese. We popped them in the oven for about 3 minutes, so the cheese got a little meltly, and the eggplant warmed, but didn't overcook the tomato. I didn't even know I liked eggplant! Little did I know! It was so delicious. We then sat down at a nice table for the 8 Gonzaga students in the class, and they served us our food. It was so good.  So good, as in I had 2.5 helpings of lasagna...no, I did not unbuckle my jeans, though the thought did cross my mind. Best thing I've ever made with the help of a professional. Haha.
 

As we left, they gave us a little booklet of all the receipes we tried out for the evening! So when I come home, Italian dinner on me! :)